JOHN FORCE TRIES TO WIN ONE FOR LATE FRIENDS
John Force has lined up against the Jimmy Prock-tuned Cornwell Quality Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS plenty of times , but those matchups were against John Force Racing President Robert Hight . But with Hight out of the driver ’ s seat due to personal health reasons , JFR Top Fuel driver Austin Prock stepped in to make his Funny Car debut at the PRO Superstar Shootout .
After qualifying third with a 3.849 at 332.59 and beating longtime nemesis Cruz Pedregon in the first round , Force found himself in Prock ’ s crosshairs in the semifinals . When that pairing was determined in the random chip draw after the first round , Force realized the challenge he was up against .
“ He ’ s got the baddest hot rod on the planet and I know that car because Robert Hight drives that car ,” Force said in a top-end interview with FloRacing reporter Jamie Howe . “ We really miss
Robert not being here , but he ’ ll be back . I want to keep that clear . For all the sponsors on the side of that car , I ’ m excited . Prock ran good in qualifying with his dad . They struggled , then they got fast . On top of it , my old hot rod , she ’ s going down there . I get to race the kid . That means somebody [ from JFR ] will be in the final to run for that $ 250,000 .”
Force also took the opportunity to pay tribute to former crew chief Larry Frazier , who passed that Friday , and JFR sponsor and friend of Force , Frank Tiegs , who passed on Thursday of the event . Tiegs owned Montana Brands , Rocky Mountain Twist , and Flav-R-Pac , which all sponsored JFR over the last several years .
“ I lost Larry Frazier , one of my early crew chiefs ,” Force began . “ I need to say it , that ’ s very important to me . Love ya , and the family , love ya . And we lost Frank Tiegs . I love his family . I ’ m still carrying his logos on my car . It ’ s about friendship to me . I love him and I miss him . To all the family , ain ’ t nothing I can say , but I ’ ll try to win you a drag race .”
While Force himself didn ’ t end up delivering that win , Prock picked up the torch after beating Force ’ s 3.914 with a 3.89 and defeated reigning world champion Matt Hagan in the final round to carry out the mission . DI
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